


More Than Her Pain

by anotherfngrl



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: BAMF Women, Chronic Pain, Gen, Women Being Awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:15:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23621428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anotherfngrl/pseuds/anotherfngrl
Summary: Dani wakes up to a bad pain day. She manages, anyway.
Relationships: Dani Powell & JT Tarmel, Gil Arroyo & Dani Powell
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14
Collections: Bite Sized Bits of Fic from 2020





	More Than Her Pain

**Author's Note:**

> This is written for a prompter with chronic pain, with great love and understanding. Anyone who is hurting, today, you are not alone.

From the moment she wakes up, she knows it's going to be a bad pain day. She's slept badly, tossing and turning and struggling to find a comfortable position.

Now, she lowers herself back onto her bed, on her back, forcing her body to sprawl loosely. She feels the tension in her muscles, strain caused by the pain, and lets herself experience it before slowly breathing out, focusing on her fingers.

Slowly, she unclenches them, allowing them to fall open. She focuses on her wrists next, feeling her hands sink into the bed. As she works her way up her arms, gradually releasing tension, she feels ever so slightly.... Not better, not yet. But more able to rise from her bed through the pain.

She texts Gil, letting him know she's having a slow start and will be in late today. She knows she's lucky- her boss respects her skills, and her dedication. When she'd explained the flare ups, he'd matter of factly told her they don't keep regular hours, anyway, and that she could take her time when she needs to.

Next, she settles into the shower, running the water hot. Just the weight of her body is dragging her down today, so she sinks to sit in the shower floor, reaching out to flip the lever and allow the tub to fill.

The bathroom is one of the primary reasons she chose this apartment. It's got a tub, not just a shower stall, along with an electric water heater and, a true rarity in New York, halfway decent water pressure.

She enjoys the water pouring over her, gradually uncurling as she sinks into the warmth of the tub. She shuts the shower off when the tub is full, and by the time the water has cooled she feels marginally more human.

She slips into a pair of the trousers made of yoga pants material she bought a few months ago, glad to have the option of the soft fabric on her aching joints. She puts on a soft, worn in camisole and a knit blazer. The pants are wide enough legged she can get away with tennis shoes, today. Finding a way to look professional when the very feel of fabric against her skin grates has been a process.

Dani makes herself a tumeric lemon tea and does a few stretches as she waits for it to steep. She knows she'll be glad later, especially if she has to chase anyone down today.

Dani Powell is not a woman defined by her limitations. Yes, she moves more slowly some mornings, but even on days like today, she _manages_ her pain, rather than letting it define her. Even on the days she knows she shouldn't be in the field, she's an asset to her team.

It's been difficult, as a girl who was raised to be strong, to be hard, to see her body as something other than a limitation. But she knows she's more than the sum of what she can do _today_.

Dani Powell clips on her gun and badge and heads out to face the world. She's an impressive figure, striding down the sidewalk to her bus stop. And if she lets JT tackle their bad guys today, well, it means she'll be there to interrogate them, after.

When she arrives at the station, Gil smiles, pleased to see her. And when JT gets up to go to the printer or the vending machine, he always asks if she needs him to grab anything. It's good- support, not coddling. JT won't jump up out of his seat when she needs something, nor will he quietly judge her slow movements today. But, in this as in everything else, her partner has her back.

And if it's JT that runs down an alley to catch the working girl who made the 911 call on their most recent case, well, it was Dani who ran down the lead that led them to her, in the first place.

Gil smiles when they bring her in. "Good work, team." And they are. A team. Dani knows her team has her back, as Gil wordlessly hands her a bottle of anti-inflammatories, promising to come get her when he's ready to start the interrogation.

Because this is what she _does_. It's who she _is_ , a cop and a protector, a girl from the Bronx who keeps people safe and who girls like the one in their interrogation room know they can trust, to treat them fairly.

She's Dani Powell, and she's more than her pain.


End file.
